Fallen Firefighters

Even the death of friends will inspire us as much as their lives... their memories will be encrusted over with sublime and pleasing thoughts, as moments of other men are overgrown with moss; for our friends have no place in the graveyard.
Henry David Thoreau (1849)

In Memory of Those Who Gave Their LivesJacob D. Talley died on July 12, 1913, as the driver on Hose Wagon 3, when the yoke broke loose from the horses and he was run over by the apparatus. He was responding to a false alarm at 1:25 a.m.

Raymond E. Maxey died on February 14, 1954, of a heart attack. He was the Captain of Engine 8, and was suppressing a large tire fire at Roanoke Scrap Iron and Metal Company.

Frank L. Ferguson died on September 2, 1955, when a wall collapsed on him. A firefighter on Ladder 1, he was battling a warehouse fire at Virginia Scrap Iron and Metal Company. Ferguson joined the department on August 16, 1955, after having survived several major military conflicts in the Korean War and World War II.

Carl A. Cox died on October 7, 1972, of a heart attack. He was an Assistant Fire Chief fighting a house fire at 332 Patton Avenue. A 37-year veteran, Cox was due to retire on November 10, 1972.

Robert G. Cassell and Harvey H. Helm died on November 1, 1985, from injuries received from a hit-and-run driver. Captain Cassell and Firefighter Helm, of Engine 12, had responded to an automobile fire on Shenandoah Avenue.